8 Effective Ways To Get Rid Of Wasps

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If you have a wasp problem, you are no doubt in a quandary as to what to do about it. Chemical wasp control is certainly less than desirable due to the negative impact it can have on the environment, your pets and children and you. Thus, read here 10 natural methods to control and get rid of wasps.

How to keep wasps under control

1. There are lots of natural ways to keep wasps under control. One of the best approaches is to simply remove wasp temptation from your environment. For example, be careful not to attract them by leaving food or drink out for them.

2. When you have a party or eat a meal outside, be sure to clean up promptly and dispose of such temptations as left-over sodas, wine, fruit juices, birthday cake and the like before it can attract wasps and other pests. Keep your barbecue grill clean because many wasps are meat eaters.

3. If you find that your hummingbird feeder is drawing wasps, take it down and make a point of planting attractive bushes and flowers for your hummingbirds and butterflies.

4. If wasps are bothersome, look to relocate them. Use natural concoctions intended as wasp killers to kill them on contact.

5. If you have a wasp infestation in a location, you cannot avoid, or if the wasp colony is an aggressive type in your vicinity, you will need to get rid of it.

A small paper wasp nest is relatively easy to deal with in several ways. These nests are usually out in the open (e.g. under the eaves of houses or outbuildings) and relatively small.

If you catch it when the umbrella-shaped nest is tiny and only has a few wasps on it, you can either:

– Knock it down with a broom during the day when the wasps are all out
– Relocate it
– Spray it at night when the wasps are at home

To make a wasp spray mix up a half and half combination of white vinegar and water. Add peppermint essential oil at a rate of 20 drops per ounce. Add Dawn dish soap at a rate of one tablespoonful per cup. Decant this mixture into a spray bottle that can deliver a fairly powerful spray stream.

After dark, when the wasps are sleeping, spray the wasp nests liberally. This will kill them and also leave the scent of peppermint, which repels them.

6. Trap the wasps

Trapping the wasps is a good way to keep their numbers under control. You won’t get rid of all of them, but you can reduce their numbers so they will bother you less or so you can deal with them easily by removing their nests.

Use beer or a 50/50 mixture of beer and water. Many people find this works very well.

Alternately, you can make a sugar water and apple cider vinegar (ACV) mixture to attract wasps but should not attract bees and other beneficial insects.

Here’s how:

Mix ACV and water 50/50 and then add sugar at half that rate. So, if you combine 2 cups of ACV and water, add 1 cup of sugar. Mix in Dawn dish soap at a rate of one teaspoonful per cup of solution.

Allow the sugar to dissolve and use the mixture as bait. This mixture will keep in a closed container in your fridge indefinitely.

7. Another good way to keep wasp numbers under control and eliminate quite a few of them is to use various powdered deterrents. Among them are:

Diatomaceous Earth (DE)
Talcum Powder
Boric Acid
Cinnamon

8. A wasp repelling essential oil spray

A blend of lemongrass, clove and geranium essential oils managed to completely repel worker wasps. You might try applying a mix of several drops of each of the oils in a spray bottle filled with water, and a few squirts of dish soap. Coat the areas outside of your house, as before, in places wasps are known to build nests, to keep them away.